Wednesday 28 March 2018

Afternoon Light - Drakensberg

Since I returned from my visit back to South Africa over Christmas, I have been enjoying re-creating the feeling of being in the mountains.  This painting called Afternoon Light - Drakensberg is now finished. Over the last few weeks I have shared small WIP details now I am happy to share the completed painting.


Afternoon Light - Drakensberg - oil on canvas 900mm x 900mm

The painting is quite large - 900mm x 900mm and painted in oil on canvas. It’s one of those rare paintings that seemed to go smoothly from the very beginning. It’s not often that an artist gets into that special state of ‘flow’. Being able to retain this state over a few weeks is also rare. 

There are very few parts that were repainted or that posed problems. 
Early on I realised that the very loose mountain ridge in the underpainting needed to be re-positioned and redrawn but otherwise the painting progressed without too much of a struggle. 

(Disclaimer - usually many parts of any painting will have numerous layers and will have problems that need solving)

I thought it would be interesting to share a few progress photos:


Bright underpainting - 7th February 2018


Later the same morning...an outline of the mountains and a few dark areas have been added.


10th February 


14th February - more work on the dark shadows of the foreground and rocks - preparation for the grass to come...


28th February - more detail on the rocks and the addition of the sunlit grass. The mountain range now has a layer of haze moving them more into the distance.

It was so hard to wait; to be patient; to complete the under-painting of the dark areas before painting the grass over the dry layers.

Wednesday 7 March 2018

Chiaroscuro

At the beginning of the year I joined the RQAS - Royal Queensland Art Society, and resolved to exhibit more work during the year. The first exhibition was entitled Abstract. My entry was Bark Layers, a painting done on birch panel with oil and cold wax. 

The next exhibition for members is Chiaroscuro. The exhibition opens on Wednesday,15th March 7.00pm for 7.30pm and runs until Thursday 29th March.  
RQAS Gallery 3/162 Petrie Terrace, Brisbane
Opening times: Tuesday to Sunday 10.00am to 3.30 pm

Some information from the RQAS website:

This is the Renaissance term for the contrast of light and shadow so it fits that to celebrate World Bipolar Day on March 30th, this exhibition will raise awareness for Bipolar Disorder and mental health. Opening night will include speech from Anne Naylor author of “Art from Adversity: a life with Bipolar”, live music and nibbles. There will be a cover charge ($5 donation to Black Dog Institute) on opening night for attendees who are not exhibiting in the show. A selection of donated works will be auctioned off at the opening to raise funds for Black Dog Institute.

My entry, Reverie,  is a charcoal and graphite drawing. The inspiration was a muse from the Sktchy app - an online community of artists and art lovers around the world. It’s a place to share your artwork and get inspiration from hundreds of reference images. This particular image resonated with me because I felt that Eva Charlotte was lost in thought. 


Reverie - charcoal and graphite on Arches Satin paper 

And the framed drawing:


Reverie - charcoal and graphite on Arches Satin paper